[Restructuring of subsidy policy: research and quality measures under pressure]

The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport has announced his intention to cut subsidies. In order to keep the health service affordable and accessible to everyone, he wants to make all parties within the health service more accountable. This will result in a squeeze on research programmes, modernisation and quality measures and comes on top of last year's considerable reduction in the budget for the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. Another expected consequence is the loss of infrastructure as happened after the subsidy for the promotion of effective-care coordination was withdrawn. The stimulation of quality standards and measures by the government is of the greatest importance in retaining the goodwill of those physicians who--along with the Order of Medical Specialists, the Dutch College of General Practitioners and others--have designed a health service of a qualitatively very high standard.